Kennington ready to build off big win in Pinty's return

Kennington ready to build off big win in Pinty's return

The Kennington crew’s victory in the Pinty’s Series finale at Jukasa last fall was their first in five years and has them hungry for more heading into the 2019 kick-off in the Clarington 200 Sunday at Canadian Tire Motorsports Park.

There was a gleeful feel to every turn of the wrench at DJK Racing over the winter.

The Kennington crew’s victory in the Pinty’s Series finale at Jukasa last fall was their first in five years and has them hungry for more heading into the 2019 kick-off in the Clarington 200 Sunday at Canadian Tire Motorsports Park.

“It’s always nice to have that win in your back pocket,” D.J. Kennington said this week. “It gives you momentum and confidence and hopefully, we can keep it going. It was a while coming and it was more of a relief than anything.

“It feels like the clock is reset, the monkey’s off the back and we can get back into it.”

The best part of the return to the winner’s circle was it came in a new oval car built by Wight Motorsports, Inc. (WMI), a chassis shop started by Kennington’s former crew chief Dave Wight. The takeoff of his own racing-related venture has let Kennington step back from his offseason job plowing snow for Southwold Township and invest more time in the No. 17 Castrol Edge Dodge program.

“I’m full-force racing this year,” said the 41-year-old St. Thomas native. “We just got more work and it made sense. We’ve got lots of rental deals and lots of people coming in trying to run with us.

“The Mopar sponsorship is mine. Andrew Ranger is running out of my shop. (U.S. driver) Julia Landauer will run five races with us. Riley Herbst, of Kyle Busch Racing, has a truck race in September at CTMP in September, so he’ll be here to get in some laps, too.”

In the meantime, Kennington and company built a brand-new road course car that has yet to be on the track.

“Its first lap will be in practice on the weekend,” he said. “She’s the one. We’re trying to get it finished up and hopefully, it’s as good as the oval car.

The road course has never been a particular Kennington forte, but he finished third in road points last year and hovered near the Top 5 in every one.

Those outings usually play a factor in determining the series champion. Last year, he ended up third.

“It’s the status quo in terms of contenders,” he said. “(Kevin) Lacroix will be tough. L.P. Dumoulin is the returning champ and (2017 champ) Alex Labbe will be in the mix. The 22 car (belonging to Scott Steckly), as well. You’ve got to minimize mistakes and get a couple of wins (on the 13-race tour).

“You can’t afford any bad ones. You have to bang out a Top 5 this weekend and start on the right foot, then go to Jukasa and see if we can’t repeat what we did in the fall.”

Kennington has long indicated the Pinty’s tour is his first priority, but he has jumped on continuing opportunities south of the border, too.

He already made his 16th career start on the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup series in late March, finishing 32nd for Spire Motorsports at Martinsville, Va.

“Spire is working with Premium Motorsports, who I have a relationship with from before,” Kennington said. “They . . . asked if I was interested and Spark Power came on to give us a hand with tires. It’s a small team . . . running for owner points. Anytime you can run a Cup race, it’s great and I’m sure there will be more to come.

“It could be with them, Premium in the No. 27 or possibly the 96 with Marty (Gaunt). It’s all options open and we’re waiting to see what happens.”

He was at Daytona again in February, this time thanks to a NASCAR Xfinity Series ride for B.J. McLeod, but it proved a rather frustrating race.

“We had mechanical issues, which sucks,” he said. “We would’ve had a Top 20 easy, probably Top 15, but it was something simple that got us. The battery came unhooked. They dropped it off the jack and it quit. Those are the breaks and you learn from it.

“I’m looking forward to the next chance,” he added. “Once we get our Pinty’s series running and done here, we’ll look for what’s next down there.”